Above is a link to my theme song for Rift in this book. This song inspires and describes his character for me while writing. Ps. best listened to with headphones or earbuds turned UP, the ending of the song is gold.

“Will you give me the ability to have a child as soon as I get Sylvia out?” Ava asks earnestly.

“Ava, hush,” the Sorceress says, getting up from the bed and her eyes snap to us. The eye contact through the mirror is unsettling to the soul. She knows we’re watching her and can see us through the mirror. “Spying on your mother, dear? Don’t worry, Rift, I’m coming for you,” she says, and blows a kiss. “I know you’ve been quite the naughty boy.”

“Shit,” Rift growls, his eyes loose their amber luster and the vision in the mirror dissipates. “Let’s get out of here.”

“Your mother?” Helle says, her eyes huge. She’s practically shaking after what she just witnessed about Ava and now her face is so pale I fear she’ll faint.

Oh, dear, had Helle not caught on to Rift being the Sorceress’ son yet?

“Yes,” Rift says, “And she knows where we are now, so you need to come with me.”

“We’re not going anywhere with you!” Helle screams, she grasps me by the elbow and pulls me away from him. “That monster is his mother and you didn’t tell me?”

“He’s not working with her, he’s helping us,” I tell her. “I know it looks bad, but like I said, if he wanted to hurt us, he would have already.”

“How can you trust him?” Helle splutters. “He was raised by her. You don’t just erase that kind of thing with a new relationship! Why didn’t anyone tell me we were working with that demon’s child?”

“Helle, I know you mean well, and even understand your concern, but you need to calm down,” Scenna interrupts her. “We’ve got a huge asset in our pocket with Rift. To have her son siding with us? He just showed us an incredible window in. Because of Rift, we now know who her informant is. This gives us a great deal of power. Instead of hating Rift you should be thanking him.”

Helle bites her lip. “Who are you exactly, Scenna?”

“I was a Fe slave to a crime lord in league with the Sorceress in Underlund,” Scenna explains, “Before that I was a naga hunter in the south sea. Kyla and Rift saved me from the crime lord and then they went back to rescue my friends. The human woman, Dayna, and the sylph, Laurel.”

“Are you all deaf? She said she’s coming to get me and if we don’t get out of here now we’ll be trapped underground like a hive of golbi,” Rift barks at us. “Move your asses!”

My hero, ever polite, but we don’t waste a moment. We hurry up the stairs and out of the cellar.

“We need to separate,” Rift says, “We cannot risk losing any of the witnesses to our raid at Dirk’s or risk losing Helle. I may have the power to extract the spell my mother placed on her. I have an elefont stabled about a mile south from here at an Inn. It can carry all of you on it’s back wherever you want to go.” Rift turns to Scenna. “Can you get them there?”

Scenna nods, “Of course, Dark Lord.”

“Dark Lord,” Helle mumbles. “I cannot believe it has come to this!”

“Just tell the innkeeper my name, he will hide you for me. Go now!” Rift orders Scenna.

Scenna nods and motions her hand for our group to follow her.

I take Helle’s hand. “It’s going to be okay, Helle. We’re going to fix this.”

“Please, stay safe, Kyla,” Helle whispers to me. “Please tell me you won’t do anything you’re going to regret.”

“Life is full of things we regret. I regret not telling you about Rift sooner. I love you, Helle, you are a wonderful friend and I shall fix what is going on with Kal, I promise,” I tell her.

“Love you too, Kyla,” Helle says, and she hugs me. “I believe you, sister.”

“Now get out of here,” I tell her, releasing her from my embrace and nodding at Scenna.

“What do we do now?” I ask Rift, after they are out of sight.

“We are in luck, a Bridge will open up within the hour, I will go in and find out if your father is on Earth,” Rift says to me, he holds a shard of arlite out to me.

“I would like to go with you,” I say to Rift. “I’ve always wondered about the world my mother came from, and I doubt you know as much about it as I do. If my father is there, I can help find him.”

“True,” Rift says. “But remember, this is an entire world we’re talking about, even if I can see him because of the Cursed blood, it may take months just to reach his location.”

“I hope not, time is precious to us,” I say, worry creasing my brow.

Rift glances around the jungle. “My mother will arrive soon, I think it’s best you are out of sight when that happens. You could try to kill her, but she is powerful with all the disharmony she’s causing. She’s dangerous, and she hates you.”

“She’s not going to hurt you, is she?” I ask, grasping his hand in mine. “Because I will torch her if she does.”

“She’ll hurt me, but I can handle it,” Rift tells me, squeezing my hand reassuringly. “And I doubt fire will work on her. Get out of sight, Kyla.”

A cold wind blows through the humid jungle and a fog rises from the jungle floor. My spine prickles, I can literally sense an evil presence drawing near.

“Too late,” Rift says, his face grim, “she’s already here.”